The World Wide Web (WWW) or simply, the “Web” is the well-known collection of interlinked hypertext documents hosted at a vast number of computer resources (“hosts”) communicatively coupled to one another over networks of computer networks known as the Internet. These documents, which may include text, multimedia files and images, are typically viewed as Web pages with the aid of a Web browser—a software application running on a user's computer system. Collections of related Web pages that can be addressed relative to a common uniform resource locator (URL) are known as Web sites, and are typically hosted on one or more Web servers accessible via the Internet.
In recent years, Web sites featuring UGC, that is content created and posted to Web sites by owners of and, sometimes, visitors to those sites, have become increasingly popular. UGC accounts for a wide variety of content, including news, gossip, audio-video productions, photography and social commentary, to name but a few. Of interest to the present inventors is UGC which expresses opinions (usually, but not necessarily, of the person posting the UGC), for example of products, services or combinations thereof (herein, we will use the term “product” to mean any or all such products and/or services). Social media sites in particular have become popular places for users of those sites to post UGC that includes opinion information.
The opinions and commentary posted to social media sites have become highly influential and many people now make purchasing decisions based on such content. Unfortunately, however, for people seeking out such content in order to inform prospective purchasing decisions and the like, the task is not always easy. Blogs, micro-blogs and social networking sites are replete with ever-changing content and even if one can locate a review or similar post of interest, such reviews typically include much information which is of little or no relevance to the topic and/or the purpose for which the review is being read. Further, while the UGC and opinion information can be of great value to advertisers, retailers and others, it is extremely burdensome to collect and analyze in any systematic way, and even more difficult to extract therefrom meaningful commentary or opinions which can form the basis for appropriate responses or informed decisions.